OpenZCine 0.2.5 release notes

0.2.5 is the current open beta version on iOS (TestFlight) and Android (Google Play and the sideload APK). It is the first release archived in this handbook, so there is no earlier baseline: these notes summarize the reviewed tester notes for this version and the operator-visible entries in the changelog.

Share This Feed, one camera with many setups, vertical camera mode and pinch zoom arrive on both platforms. Android gains sideload builds for devices without Google Play.

iOS

iOS: new and changed

Share what you see. Turn on Share This Feed in Settings → Link and other devices list it under Nearby Broadcasts, each with its own scopes and LUTs. A watcher can ask for camera control and the broadcaster hands it over. Watchers whose hardware cannot decode HEVC get JPEG automatically. Devices find each other directly, without a network.
One camera, many setups: its own access point, a cable, a hotspot and as many Wi-Fi networks as you use, each saved separately and shown as tabs on the camera’s row. Setups can be renamed (“Wi-Fi (2)” can become “Studio”). Stream Preset and Quality Bias are remembered per setup.
Rotation, both ways. Turn the body on its side and the picture follows in video and photo. The iPhone now works in both landscape directions. Settings → Controls → Auto-Rotate Feed keeps the monitoring image still if you prefer.
Pinch the live view to zoom anywhere in the frame. The fixed 2×/3×/4× magnifier is retired, and tap-to-focus follows the zoom. The focus dial works in video as well as photo, off by default in the FOCUS popup.
Settings → Link → Processing adds a Feed Upscaler (Off, Fast, Quality, AI) and Feed Noise Reduction. AI infers detail the camera never captured, so judge critical focus on Quality or Fast. Link Health shows the measured rate the link is carrying.
On Apple Watch: photo mode with a shutter and a shots-remaining readout. The crown magnifies the preview and a drag pans it.
On iPad, the picture can come from the camera’s HDMI output through a USB capture device, while exposure, focus, record and media keep working over the camera link.

iOS: fixes

Original Z 7, Z 6, Z 5 and Z 50 now reach live view over USB-C.
USB-C reconnects after the cable is knocked loose, or after a few seconds in the background, without force-quitting the app.
Original Z 6, Z 5 and Z 7 no longer get pairing steps they do not support. A Z 6III is no longer treated as an original Z 6. iPad USB-C copy says this device, not iPhone. Settings → Share Diagnostics keeps a connect-attempt trace on the phone until you send it.
Share and Save to Photos work on clips from the camera, including proxies whose media is shorter than the header. They used to fail with “Invalid sample cursor”.
Save to Photos asks for library access before the long export, then shows a spinner while Photos writes, instead of a frozen percentage.

iOS: what to test

Plug in over USB-C, connect, then knock the cable loose and plug it back in. It should come back without force-quitting. Background the app for a few seconds with the cable in, then return.
With an original Z 6, Z 5, Z 7 or a Z 6III, connect over USB-C and over the camera’s own Wi-Fi. It should reach the monitor without a wireless error on the camera. If a Z 6III still fails, share diagnostics from Settings.
Connect, play a clip, tap Share, then try Share and Save to Photos. Both should finish without disconnecting first.
Live view stays upright and matches the camera’s colors.
A device with no camera can type the Wi-Fi name and key to connect.

Android

Android: new and changed

Share This Feed: broadcast the monitor or watch another device’s, with per-watcher scopes and LUTs, an optional passcode and camera-control handoff.
One camera, many setups, vertical camera mode, the Auto-Rotate Feed switch and pinch-to-zoom on the live view, as on iOS.
HDMI capture as a picture source through CameraX, while camera control stays on the normal link.
Camera clock sync: a body whose clock has drifted more than five seconds is set to the phone’s time on connect, never while recording.
Pickers mirror the connected body: exposure mode, drive, focus, metering, image quality and picture control come from the camera’s own lists, in its order.
Sideload builds for devices without Google Play, such as field monitors. One arm64 APK for Android 10 or newer, on GitHub Releases.

Android: fixes

The live picture stays upright on a field monitor. The first sideload build, 0.2.5 (1), could show it upside down; 0.2.5 (2) fixes that.
ISO and white balance on the command grid open their pickers.
A device with no camera can type the camera Wi-Fi name and key. The Wi-Fi scanner no longer disables itself over one bad frame.
A USB-C reconnect no longer fails on the attempt that recovered the camera’s USB pipe: a failed first write is retried once.
Z 6III USB product names are no longer read as an original Z 6.
A camera Wi-Fi reconnect finds the camera’s address after joining, instead of dialing a saved placeholder.
Settings popups can always be closed while a slow camera write is in flight.

Android: what to test

Live view stays upright and matches the camera’s colors.
On a device with no camera, type the Wi-Fi name and key to connect.
Plug in over USB-C, pull the cable, plug it back in and confirm the session returns.

Availability and remaining limits

USB-C, Apple Watch, Wear OS and the full tablet experience are available but still being hardened across more setups. The Nikon ZR over Wi-Fi is the primary tested path.
Share This Feed is verified on simulators and emulators; router, congestion and peer-to-peer behavior still need hardware (details).
A sideload APK and a Google Play install are signed differently and cannot update each other. Remove one before installing the other. Install 0.2.5 (2) over 0.2.5 (1).
Frame.io upload works only in builds configured with credentials.